Everyone had a set of jacks – customized in your favorite colors, of course – and if we had five free minutes we plopped down on the floor wherever we were and played a few rounds.

Chinese Jacks was an American eighties version of a very old game called Five Stones (or Knucklebones, or Jackstones, or a kajillion other variations). You can find some “official” rules here, and I like this video for showing it in action.

Part of the fun of Chinese Jacks was making your own set of jacks, in your own favorite color combinations. Five Stones is also a game where you can (and should) make your own set. It’s easy and pretty fast and uses just scraps.

What you’ll need

5 scraps of fabric – each at least 2 1/4 x 4 inches

small amount of rice, plastic beads, or other small filler

sewing machine

thread

basic sewing tools

about an hour

Difficulty

Very easy – great for beginners of all ages. And the pattern has links to videos teaching you all the skills you’ll need. 🙂

i’m in the middle of making these (have to finish up the hand sowing) and i see at the end of the pattern the finished stones with a bag. i thought that there was a pattern for the bag too or that it was somewhere but i can’t seem to find it is there one?